5 Battery Energy Storage Projects to Watch in 2016

Energy storage is necessary when a grid integrates high levels of variable renewables. Now that solar and wind facilities are going online, energy storage is vastly emerging in the U.S.

Here are five of the biggest battery energy storage projects to keep an eye on in 2016.

1. The biggest solar-plus-storage project on the mainland

A municipal utility in Minster, Ohio is working on a solar+storage project aiming to be the biggest of its kind on the U.S. mainland. With success, this project could be an example for municipal utilities to incorporate storage into their systems.

2. Leveraging DERs for the grid: ConEd’s behind-the-meter project

New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative is going to use DERs to modernize the grid, integrate clean energy, and lower costs for consumers. The success of this project would demonstrate for utilities the use of DERs to manage the grid.

Southern California Edison procured 100 MW, testing the limits of battery duration, according to Utility Dive. It is the largest project to go online.

5. The first fully dispatachable solar project

In Hawaii, a new project is seeking to prove that solar energy can be used at night and not only when the sun is down. This project actively tests a theory that solar energy will be dispatched during peak demand periods after the sun has set, according to Utility Dive.